Overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan
This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2018)
Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply.[1][2] More land is used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country has been the world's leading illicit drug producer since 2001.[3] In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan.[4] By 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market.[5] This amounts to an export value of about US $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers.[6] In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.[7]
The Taliban have taken mixed stances on opium over the years. Poorly enforced restrictions in the 1990s were a prelude to a full and very effective ban on religious grounds in 2000. The Afghan war in 2001 meant that the ban was only briefly effective.[8] The opium trade spiked in 2006 after the Taliban lost control of local warlords. Despite having previously banned opium, the Taliban used opium money to fuel their two-decade campaign to retake Afghanistan,[8] with Taliban earning up to 60% of their annual revenue from the trade.[9] The then Afghan government also outlawed production, but despite help from coalition military forces to tamp down on drug trafficking, the ban did little to stop production. After the Fall of Kabul in 2021, the opium trade boomed, and most farmers planted at least some opium for harvest in spring 2022. The Taliban outlawed production again in April 2022, during the poppy harvest.[8] In November 2023, a U.N report showed that in the entirety of Afghanistan, poppy cultivation dropped by over 95%, removing it from its place as being the world's largest opium producer. In 2023, U.N declared that the Chin State and Sagaing Region of Myanmar produce harvested poppy surpassing Afghanistan. The rise of poppy cultivation has extended upto Manipur, an Indian state. There are reports that financing kuki-chin militants come form poppy export.[10][11]
^Felbab-Brown p. 113
^David Greene (host, Morning Edition), Hayatullah Hayat (Governor of Helmand Province, Afghanistan), Tom Bowman (reporter), Dianne Feinstein (U.S. Senator, Chair of the Caucus on International Narcotics Control) (July 6, 2016). Afghan Governor Wants Government To Control Poppy Crop (Radio broadcast). NPR. Event occurs at 0:10. Retrieved July 6, 2016. Afghanistan's poppy production… accounts for more than 91 percent of the world's heroin.
^"UNODC 2010 world drug report, page 43" (PDF). Retrieved November 30, 2011.
^UNITED NATIONS Office on Drugs and Crime. "Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 28, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^"World Drug Survey 2019" (PDF).
^"Opium Amounts to Half of Afghanistan's GDP in 2007, Reports UNODC" (Press release). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
^"The opium economy in afghanistan" (PDF). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2003: 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 8, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ abcPadshah, Safiullah; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (April 3, 2022). "Taliban Outlaw Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
^"Profits and poppy: Afghanistan's illegal drug trade a boon for Taliban". Reuters. August 16, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
^"Afghan opium poppy cultivation plunges by 95 percent under Taliban: UN". Al Jazeera. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^"Opium cultivation declines by 95 per cent in Afghanistan: UN survey | UN News". news.un.org. November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
and 27 Related for: Opium production in Afghanistan information
Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally...
with Afghanistan supplanting Burma to become the world's largest opium producer once more. Opiumproduction increased rapidly inAfghanistan from that...
against heroin production. Afghanistan has produced over 90% of the world's illicit opiumin the recent past. In addition to opiates, Afghanistan was also the...
Opiumproductionin Myanmar has historically been a major contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Myanmar is the world's largest producer...
War inAfghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan...
imports). Opium is heavily imported from its top producing nations like Afghanistan. There is also an account of Opium black marketing in India. The...
2 million. Opium and heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan—known collectively as the Golden Crescent—pass through Iran's eastern borders in large amounts...
which export heroin created inAfghanistan. Afghanistan is the largest producer of heroin (see OpiumproductioninAfghanistan), but due to no existing connections...
it is a major route for heroin from Afghanistan to Europe; opiumproductioninAfghanistan has been the highest in the world since 1992 (except for the...
drug trade OpiumproductioninAfghanistan "Afghanistan now world's top cannabis source: U.N. | Reuters". "History of Cannabis inAfghanistan". Nick Jones...
that an increase inAfghan fruit production towards a more international market would be the best way to combat opiumproductionin the country. Gradually...
up the Afghan people. The former Afghan National Anthem and the Afghan Constitution (before 2021) each mention fourteen of them. The term "Afghan" is synonymous...
livelihoods; inAfghanistan, development agencies use the term sustainable livelihoods. Opium has been grown in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India,...
The population of Afghanistan is around 41 million as of 2023. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, reflecting its location...
Afġānistān) was a monarchy in Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first...
Engineering Company Afghanistanin the 1950s: Back to the Future [Full Documentary] - BBC News on YouTube (at 5:24) "The Opium Economy inAfghanistan: An International...
Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (ولايت, wilåyat). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses...
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان بیرغ; Dari: پرچم افغانستان), adopted on 15 August 2021 following the Taliban's victory in the 2001–2021...
but since 2003, opiumproductioninAfghanistan has risen sharply: the area cultivated in 2006 is 59% more than that cultivated in 2005. Equally, eradication...
which, in order to suppress opiumproduction, was systematically suppressing water pumping. In a 2023 report, poppy cultivation in southern Afghanistan was...
The country is the 40th largest in the world in size. Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the Kabul Province. With a location...
The Afghan conflict (Pashto: دافغانستان جنګونه; Persian: درگیری افغانستان) refers to the series of events that have kept Afghanistanin a near-continuous...
Islamic State of Afghanistan was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992. Many Afghan mujahideen parties participated in its creation, after...
with Afghanistan. It originates from the several historical examples of foreign powers having been unable to achieve military victory inAfghanistanin the...
The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for over three millennia, tracing record to at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE, and encompasses...
tons. This little production of opium continued in areas under the control of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. Since the downfall...
This is a list of public holidays inAfghanistan. "Upcoming Afghanistan Public Holidays". qppstudio.net. Retrieved 13 January 2022. Gul, Ayaz (14 August...